Change the Fate's Design
by Kit Wolfe
Summary: Two families band together in a common interest. Their children. After the Dark Lord comes calling and is subsequently vanquished the families leave the magical world. What happens when the children reenter the magical world in ten years to attend Hogwarts? See inside for all more details... Too many things too list in this box... collaborated with scorpiodragonfly.
1. Prologue

**A/N: A second Plot Bunny from scorpiodragonfly and myself. We own nothing as usual. This is completely AU with quite a bit of OOC involved. Good Malfoy's & Snape, Living James & Lily, Sane Frank & Alice, Manipulative Dumbledore, and Denser than a brick Ronald. Soul Bonds: HHr, DL,NS,DB… More to come eventually. **

**Summary: Two families band together in a common interest. Their children. After the Dark Lord comes calling and is subsequently vanquished the families leave the magical world, only letting those they trust know where they are. The children attend public school, make friends of magical variety while the parents and family members make friends with the non-magical variety. What happens when the children reenter the magical world in ten years to attend Hogwarts? Read and find out.**

**o~O~o**

**Change the fates' design**

**Prologue **

**1980**

"Severuss please stay behind," The Dark Lord hissed as the Death Eater meeting was breaking up. Severus Snape bowed his head softly as he remained in the presence of the Dark Lord whilst his fellow Death Eaters took their leave from their Master's presence. As the last Death Eater left; a short skittish person who Severus wanted to kill but couldn't as he was told to let the little cretin live, Severus turned to his Master

"My Lord," Severus intoned kneeling before the Dark Lord, "you wished to see me?" Severus inquired.

"Yess Severuss," the Dark Lord hissed, "I have a job for you."

"My Lord?" Severus asked his brow furrowing.

"I have heard about a supposed Seer that Dumbledore iss going to be interviewing. I want you to go follow the old fool and get the Seer after the interview and bring her to me," The Dark Lord intoned, "Do not fail me Severuss."

"Of course not My Lord," Severus said as he rose to his feet.

"Oh and Severuss," the Dark Lord hissed; the young man turned to his Master, "I want to know exactly what was said in the interview."

"Yes My Lord," Severus said as he left the Death Eaters Headquarters. As he left the building he raised his wand when he was certain he was far enough away, "_Expecto Patronum!" _A large lithe and sleek cat burst from the tip of the wand, "I need to meet with you and borrow something of yours. Meet at Spinners End." He sent the messaged Patronus off to its receiver as he turned on his heel and apparated to a dilapidated house on Spinner's End.

He heard the double crack of two people apparating in and picked up a charade that had been long formed as the two dark haired men walked up to him. A sneer graced his features at the same time the dark haired wizard with glasses spoke up.

"What do you want Snape?"

"I need to borrow the item that which you hold dearest to you," Severus said, "The Dark Lord gave me a job tonight and I wish not to get caught."

"How can we be sure you won't lose it?" the other man asked.

"Because when it belongs to friends I don't intentionally loose things Padfoot." The other man pulled a rolled up cloak from a satchel at his side.

"Be careful with it Softpaw," he murmured.

"It'll be safe Prongs and I'll return it to you as soon as possible," Severus said taking the cloak from the one called Prongs, "take care and tell Lily I send my greetings."

"Will do," Prongs said, "be safe."

With a quick nod Severus disapparated and appeared in Hogsmeade. Slipping down an ally by the Hogs Head Severus threw the cloak over his shoulders and flipped up the hood. He left the ally and stood by the door to the pub waiting. He didn't have to wait long as he spotted Albus Dumbledore with his eyesore robes and long white beard. He entered the pub and Snape softly followed him inside.

Severus slipped off to the side of the pub as Albus looked around searching for someone. Silently casting a charm to silence his footsteps Severus noticed the publican murmur something to Albus gruffly before moving away from the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Albus nodded and headed up the stairs off to the side of the pub, Severus just a foot behind him. Albus entered a room and Severus sidled up to the wall to listen.

"Miss Trelawney I presume?" Albus said.

"Yes Professor," the supposed Seer replied.

"I'm looking for a Divination professor and you claim to be a Seer," Albus said.

"Yes Sir my great-great-grandmother was a Seer," Trelawney said. Severus sighed softly and settled down to wait. He listened half-heartedly to the interview and could sense that Dumbledore didn't believe her. Having half a mind to give up and return to his Master telling him there was nothing of importance to this 'Seer' as Albus spoke up.

"I believe we are done here," the Headmaster said, "thank you for your time—" he was cut off and Severus' ears perked as Trelawney spoke again her voice raspy and almost inhuman.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"_

Severus' eyes widened as he quickly stood; Trelawney coughed and returned to herself. Severus didn't hear any further exchanges as he hurried from the pub. Location firm in mind he turned on his heel and apparated away and to the one place that held two people he could get advice from.

**o~O~o**

It was an infuriated Nacissa Malfoy who exited the floo into the sitting room of Malfoy manor. As Lady of Malfoy Manor she had been going over some books in Hogwarts as was what her job had been as Head Girl when she was in school. Now she did it for her husband's sake. The Lord of the Manor was slated to be part of the Board of Governors in the future and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black liked to make sure all books were up to date in regards to the incoming students and returning students.

Something had caught her attention in one of the tomes she had been looking over. She had quickly taken down the name and did a little digging before she stood and left the archives. She made her way to Slughorns office and quarters. Her former professor gave her permission to use his fire place to get home. Now she cleaned off her robes and searched for her husband the parchment clutched tight in her hand. Her first thought was to go straight to his study.

"Lucius," Narcissa called as she pushed open the study door.

"Cissy," Lucius rose to greet his wife with a hug, "how was your afternoon? You didn't overdo it I hope?" he asked placing a hand over her belly and abdomen.

"Lucius I'm pregnant not an invalid," Narcissa said, "I need to speak with you about something."

"What is it Love?" Lucius asked.

"Why are you following a half-blooded bigot?" Narcissa asked watching as Lucius' eyes narrow.

"The Dark Lord is not a half-blood Narcissa," Lucius said in a low tone.

"Oh but he is," Narcissa quipped, "and you're endangering your family by following him."

"How can you accuse the Dark Lord of being anything but pure-blooded?" Lucius asked.

"Because of this," Narcissa said tossing the piece of parchment at him. Lucius caught it and saw a name scrawled on it.

"What does Tom Marvolo Riddle have to do with the Dark Lord?" Lucius asked.

"Your precious Dark Lords name 'Lord Voldemort' is a self-imposed moniker," Narcissa said, "an anagram to be exact."

"How do you know?" Lucius asked.

"I've always been good at unscrambling things Lucius," Narcissa said as a crack sounded in the manor and a house elf popped into the office.

"Master Snape is here Master and Mistress," the elf said.

"Send him up Letty," Narcissa said, "Severus should hear this as well." It wasn't long before Severus joined them and after the greetings had been extolled Lucius caught him up on Narcissa's theory.

"You're certain?" Severus asked, brows furrowed. With a sigh Narcissa pulled out her wand and wrote the name out into the air. With a swipe of her wand the letters began to rearrange themselves to form 'I AM LORD VOLDEMORT'.

"He had a pure-blood mother and a muggle father," Narcissa said, "though it is worth mentioning that his mother had little control over her magic and was practically a squib." She turned to face her husband, "I have no plans to risk my child following this man Lucius." Lucius nodded having had second thoughts himself for a while.

"I have been having second thoughts for a while now; since we found out you were pregnant Cissy," Lucius said to his wife, "I will not follow a liar and make my child grow up in this lifestyle." Turning to Severus he asked, "What brings you here brother? What did the Dark Lord want?"

"I need advice," Severus said, "The Dark Lord tasked me with getting a hold of a supposed Seer and bringing her to him."

"And where in lies the problem?" Lucius asked.

"She gave a prophecy," Severus said and relayed the prophecy and Narcissa's eyes widened.

"Our child could be of the prophecy Lucius we must protect our child," Narcissa appealed to her husband.

"Severus you must take this to the Dark Lord," Lucius said but held his hand up to stave off any protests, "but, not all of it. Only the first half will be given to him." Narcissa let out a sigh of relief then a thought occurred.

"But how will we get him to believe Severus hadn't a chance to get the Seer?" She asked. Lucius contemplated a moment before a smirk crossed his lips.

"He will tell the Self-Proclaimed Lord that he was caught by the publican before he could hear anymore," Lucius said, "Severus are you still in contact with the Potters and Black?"

"Yes," Severus said.

"Good we may have to go to them for help after you go to the Dark Lord," Lucius said, "now go, before he gets suspicious." Severus nodded and apparated out of the study.

**o~O~o**

Severus knelt before the Dark Lord and waited for him to speak. He checked his shield to be safe and ran through what Lucius had decided would be passed onto the leader of the Dark. There were a few Death Eaters there but they had been ordered to leave. His thoughts stilled to an end when the Dark Lord spoke.

"Severuss where is the Seer?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I apologize My Lord but I was caught by the publican of the Hogs Head while waiting for the interview to conclude," Severus said keeping his head down.

"You failed me then," the Dark Lord hissed raising his wand.

"Yes My Lord," Severus said, "but I did hear something that should be of importance." This stayed the Dark Lords hand.

"Go on."

"Just before the publican caught me I heard the beginnings of a prophecy 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies'. That was all I heard before being caught and thrown out."

"That is of importance indeed Severuss," the Dark Lord said, "the only question is who is the one meant to vanquish me?"

"I do not know My Lord but I'm sure we will find out," Severus said, "after all we do have a spy in the Order. Right under Dumbledore's nose."

"Thiss iss true," the Dark Lord murmured, "You are safe for now Severuss."

"Thank you My Lord," Severus said.

"Now leave," the Dark Lord said effectively dismissing Severus. The younger man stood and left and returned to Malfoy Manor.

**o~O~o**

Narcissa was resting on the couch in Lucius' study as they waited for Severus to return. She had one hand over the barely noticeable baby bump. "You'll be alright my sweet one," Narcissa said as she drifted into what she thought was a light doze.

_Opening her eyes she found herself standing among chaos, destruction, carnage and what had at one point been Hogwarts._

_ "What is this?" she asked softly._

_ "This is what will be if the Fates Design is followed," A male voice spoke beside her. Turning she saw a young man that looked just like Lucius but with short hair and a weary look on his face._

_ "What do you mean?" Narcissa asked._

_ "Families torn apart, lives ruined, and it's the children of the present generation fighting the evil you are all fighting now," The unnamed Lucius look alike said, "Mother you can change this," turning his grey eyed gaze upon her he continued, "you have already started but it'll take so much more. Don't trust Dumbledore; go to the Potters; make sure I am raised properly. There is absolutely nothing wrong with muggle-borns, aunt Andi can attest to this; in fact so can I. The top student in my class will be muggle-born."_

She wanted to ask more but the vision faded and she opened her eyes to Lucius shaking her shoulder.

"Cissy, Love Severus has returned it's time to head to the Potters," Lucius murmured. Narcissa nodded and sat up thinking back to what she had been shown had just pushed her further away from what the Self-Proclaimed Dark Lord believed. With a rush of determination she stood and looked to Severus who had his head in the fireplace talking to someone.

"James I'm guessing," she said to Lucius.

"Yes in order for us to get to the Ancient home of Potter James has to alter the wards to allow us," Lucius said, "according to Severus the Potter family has been keeping the wards strong for generations all the way back to the beginning of their line."

"Makes sense," Narcissa agreed as Severus pulled his head from the fireplace.

"They will temporarily alter the wards to allow you. If you prove you honesty they will be permanently altered to allow you entry." Severus said.

"Understandable," Narcissa said before the head of one James Potter appeared in the fire.

"Alright Softpaw they can come through," James said before disappearing from the flames. Severus stepped up and took some powder and threw it into the fireplace.

"Potter Manor!" Severus said and disappeared into a swirl of green fire. Lucius gestured Narcissa go next. The blonde witch grabbed some powder and repeated Severus.

"Potter Manor!" She called and swirled away passing fireplaces until she saw Severus' robes. She stumbled out of the fireplace and was caught by a set of strong arms. The scent of the man who caught her was familiar and she turned to see Sirius Black.

"Hello cousin," he intoned civilly letting her go as she steadied herself. She moved to stand near Severus as the fire flashed green and Lucius stepped out. Narcissa waved her wand and cleaned the soot off both herself and her husband before taking in the room. James and Lily stood side by side, Lily had a hand on her belly similarly to how Narcissa's had been not a half hour before. Remus Lupin was standing near Sirius close to the fireplace.

"Welcome," Lily said as she moved toward Narcissa, "Narcissa it's great to see you again."

"It's been too long Lily," Narcissa said smiling at the younger witch who Narcissa had helped occasionally during her final three years at Hogwarts. Turning to her cousin she spoke, "James how are you?"

"I am well Narcissa, but I do not recall this being about me," James said, "you, Lucius and Softpaw here had something to talk to us about."

"Yes well it is kind of about you," Severus said and drew a cloak from one of the inner pockets of his cloak which he passed to James, "maybe we should take this meeting elsewhere Prongs," Severus said. Something in his eyes obviously caught the Potters attention because James nodded in understanding before leading everyone out to the sitting room. There were two comfortable looking chairs, a love seat and a couch all settled in a way for perfect conversations.

"Jemma!" Lily called and a House Elf popped in.

"Yes, Mistress Lily," the little Elf squeaked.

"Would you please bring some snacks and drinks?" Lily asked.

"Yes Mistress," the Elf bowed low before disappearing with a pop.

"Take a seat," James said as he and Lily took the love seat, Sirius and Remus each took a chair leaving Severus, Lucius and Narcissa the couch. They sat as the Elf named Jemma popped back in with snacks and drinks. With a snap of the Elf's fingers seven cups were filled with tea.

"Thank you Jemma," Lily said and the Elf nodded before leaving the room with a pop.

"Now," Sirius said, "to what do we owe the pleasure Cousin?"

"We want to help you," Lucius said, "We don't want to endanger our coming family by following that half-blooded Self-Proclaimed Dark Lord." Lily looked to Cissy a question in her eyes.

"Narcissa are you—" she didn't have to finish the question as a soft smile graced the blonde witches features.

"Yes about three months along," Cissy said, "yourself?"

"About the same," Lily said and grinned.

"Congratulations, "Sirius and James chorused while Remus smiled at them. Severus looked to Lily.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Severus asked.

"We were waiting to tell everyone," Lily said.

"Pads, Moony and Wormtail didn't even know until a few days ago and then you were busy," James added.

"Apparently Frank and Alice are expecting as well," Sirius mentioned, "Frank was being protective of Alice at work and I was just about to ask Frank about his behavior myself when Amelia Bones beat me to it."

This caused Severus' eyes to widen as his brain processed what he had been told. Three children to be born sometime in July. Cissy had in a sense defied the Dark Lord by refusing to take the Dark Mark on numerous occasions but Lucius was defying him for the first time now by defecting. Wormtail had defected from the light and these friends didn't know. He hadn't realized they were trying to get his attention until he had a lap full of Padfoot in all his furry glory.

"Get off me you beast," Severus muttered shoving the large dog off of his lap. Sirius returned to his human form and retook his seat. Severus turned to Narcissa and Lucius who nodded for him to start. Taking a deep breath the wizard began, "As you know James I was sent on a mission for the Dark Lord," James and Sirius nodded before Severus continued, "I was to follow Dumbledore when he went to interview a potential Divination professor. She claimed to be a Seer and neither Dumbledore or myself noted any signs that she had the gift. In fact Dumbledore was about to end the interview when she gave a prophecy.

"The prophecy went as followed '_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…_'." Lily's eyes widened but Severus stalled any comments by raising his hand, "Lucius told me to take part of the prophecy to the Dark Lord. So as to stay alive. The Dark Lord only knows the first part. I'd like to hope that's all he's going to know but with the pregnancies I don't know what is going to be figured out and when."

"What do you mean Sev?" Lily asked.

"James, Remus, Sirius I have some news you aren't going to want to believe but I've seen it with my own eyes," Severus said.

"Softpaw?" Remus queried.

"There is a spy in the Order," Severus said.

"What? Who?" James asked.

"You're not going to believe me instantly but if there is a pensieve handy I can back up what I am about to tell you," Severus said, "Shortly after we left school I watched a very weak willed excuse of a wizard take the Dark Mark. Someone I should have seen pulling a stunt like that but didn't because I didn't think he had the ability to betray like that. However after thinking on it a bit I realized that he would go to whoever was the strongest wizard. In this case it turned out to be the Dark Lord."

"Sev, who is it?" Lily asked. Severus took a deep breath before answering.

"Peter Pettigrew," He said carefully in the corner of his eye he saw Lucius wrapping an arm around Cissy ready to move at a moment's notice. The room was silent as Sirius and James stared at Severus in disbelief, but it was Remus who spoke.

"Severus if you're telling the truth why not tell us sooner?"

"Would you have believed me? He is one of your oldest friends." Severus said.

"What should we do?" Lily asked.

"We do nothing," Sirius said. "We'll get him when the time is right. Severus will keep us updated on him." He looked to Severus who nodded.

"Now Lucius I know what you have said," James said directing his attention to the former Slytherin, "can we trust you not to turn against us?"

"I won't risk my wife or child's safety. James we are related through marriage you of course understand what it's like to have you family in danger," Lucius said to the younger wizard, "give me a chance to prove I say what I mean."

"James he's right and I won't let Narcissa be put at risk," Lily said, "You guys are welcome to stay here. The wards will be adjusted for you and we have plenty of room for you here. Severus you will be staying in your room here as well."

"Lily we can't possibly—" Narcissa started but Lily narrowed the striking green eyes on her.

"You can and you will Narcissa," the witch said, "the Potter Manor has the oldest wards on it. Some even older than that of the Black family. No one not allowed through the wards will get in here."

"You're not going to win," Severus counseled Narcissa and Lucius, "when Lily makes her mind up about something it's a hard thing to change."

"I'll do what it takes to keep my wife and unborn child safe," Lucius conceded.

"Good this will give us time to plan an attack against the Dark Lord should he go after one of our children," James said. "Now I suggest you go to Malfoy Manor get what you need have the Manor locked down and come here. Remus Severus and I can handle getting strong wards up to protect the Manor."

"I'll go give you an extra hand packing your stuff up," Sirius said.

"I'll get a set of rooms ready for you," Lily said. With a nod everyone stood and went to do what was decided.

**o~O~o**

So it was that the Malfoys moved in with the Potter's, Sirius, Remus and Severus. When Dumbledore revealed the prophecy to James and Lily as well as Frank and Alice at an Order meeting and subsequently decided to put both families into hiding the Malfoys joined the Potters under the Fidelius Charmed cottage in Godric's Hollow while the Longbottoms where hidden away behind the safety wards of Longbottom Manor.

Stress had taken its toll on Cissy during her pregnancy and young Draco Lucius Malfoy was born June 5th 1980, and Harry James Potter was born July 31st 1980.

A well thought out plan had been put into plan the day Severus informed them Peter had done exactly as they figured he would. The Secret Keeper had gone straight for the Dark Lord with the information. A plan that would keep them alive and safe from those that would cause the boys harm. As the sun sank on All Hallows Eve 1981 the family was in the living room talking amongst themselves while the 15 and 16 month olds played on the floor near their mums feet. Cissy and Lily grew close quickly. Each had become the sister the other had needed.

Lily and Cissy watched as the boys who were as close as brothers fell asleep facing each other. The mothers were kneeling to scoop them up when the door was blasted open. They shoved the boys into Sirius and Remus's arms as Voldemort made his way in with Wormtail trailing him. James and Lucius stood on either side of the women with Sirius and Remus behind them. Voldemort paused briefly at the sight of Lucius and Narcissa.

"Bella said she ran you off," He said, "No matter you'll die as the blood traitors you have apparently become." Severus stepped from the shadow to stand right behind Sirius, "Ah good Severuss keep them from leaving." He leveled his wand on Lily who reached with her free hand to grasp Narcissa's hand. "Step aside you foolish girl and you'll live."

"You'll have to kill me first!" Lily spat raising her Willow wand against the Self-Proclaimed Lord.

"Correction you'll have to kill all of us," Cissy said raising her own wand; which were joined by five other wands were raised against the Dark Lord.

"How much pure-blood are you willing to spill Tom?" James asked.

"None," the Dark Lord hissed, his wand pointed straight at Lily, "_Avada Kedavra!_" the green light shot towards the red haired witch only to be rebound without touching her and hitting the Dark Lord. The resulting explosion shook the house James and Lucius whipped about to protect their wives while Sirius, Remus and Severus covered the boys.

Dust filtered through the cottage making everyone cough. A rustle was heard and James' wand whipped up, "_Stupefy!" _ there was a thud as a body hit the floor. Severus stood carefully and made his way over to the body.

"We've got Wormtail," he announced. There was a collective sigh as everyone stood and looked over the carnage of their home. The boys were crying as they were passed back to Lily and Cissy who held them close.

"Softpaw bind him and let's get out of here," James said. Severus did as told and the group made their way to the wards to apparate away from Godric's Hollow. Severus was the last to leave and as he was turning on the spot he saw Albus Dumbledore appear a few cottages down. With a crack Severus Snape was gone from Godric's Hollow along with his family.

**o~O~o**

**A/N: Oka so that was a long ass prologue. I just wanted to write it out the way my brain saw it. Sorry for the length guys. I know that no shield charm can block the Killing Curse. I used creative allowance since Lily is proficient in Charms she created one that cast silently by all of the family would not only stop the Killing Curse but rebound back.**

**We only plan to use four of the Horcruxes right now. We are still on the fence about the fifth one. Until next time guys.**


	2. Fresh Start

_**A/N: Okay so we are back with Chapter one. As stated scorpiodragonfly and I don't own the Harry Potter world, we are however, blessed to play in J.K. Rowling's sandbox with her creations. So we are off to start this. Please note that there will be time jumps during chapters. There will be parts that are important and will be focused on, and others will be touched on. Anywho… onto chapter one…**_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

**Fresh Start**

**November 1st, 1981**

**Edgeware, London**

**10 A.M.**

The sound of a Motorbike caught Jackie Granger's attention first. The dentist had always loved the sound of a decent Motorcycle and she knew how to appreciate a good bike when she saw one. Moving to one of the front windows Jackie looked out and watched as two black Sedans, a black truck, and a silver Motorbike pulled into the driveway next door. The biker dropped the kickstand with one foot before swinging the other foot over the bike before removing his helmet and running a hand through shaggy black hair. Another man stepped out of the truck this one with sandy blonde hair. Jackie watched as the dark haired man walked up and joined the other before they headed towards the Sedans that now had people exiting the vehicles.

Out of one of the cars stepped a red haired female and a messy black haired male. Jackie's first thought was that the other people there were helping someone in the group move in. The house had been sold earlier in the year but until this moment no one had so much as shown up to the property. Her confusion surfaced as the male and female from the first car moved to the back seat and pulled out two babies. The confusion was due in part to the fact that the baby the red head held was platinum blonde. Her brow furrowed in confusion until the occupants of the second car had exited the vehicle. A tall black haired man with a fairly prominent hooked nose stepped out of the driver's side of the car while a platinum blonde couple stepped out from the passenger side and back seat of the car.

The blonde female made her way over to the red head and scooped the toe headed boy into her arms. The group exchanged a few words briefly before moving into the house. Jackie Granger had not often been one to spy on others, not for three or so years, but that had been for different reasons. She couldn't wrap her mind around the new neighbors. She decided that after her two year old had her nap Jackie was going to gather little Hermione and go play welcoming neighbor. Jackie reached for the phone after watching the large group enter the house and called her husband at work to talk with him.

"_Granger Family Dental; this is Rae, how may I direct your call?"_ The cheerful voice of their black haired assistant bubbled on the other end of the line.

"Good morning Rae," Jackie replied, "I was wondering if Robert was free for a brief chat?"

"_Oh hi Doctor Granger,"_ Rae said, _"Just let me check."_ The line went silent for a moment before she returned to the line, _"Doctor Granger is free I'll just transfer the call over and pass a greeting on to young Hermione for me."_

"Thank you Rae and I'll be sure to pass the message onto Hermione," Jackie said before there was a couple clicks and her husband picked up.

"_Jackie, is everything alright?"_ Robert Granger asked.

"Everything is fine Robert; I just thought I would let you know that we apparently have new neighbors. I was thinking of taking Hermione after her nap and go introduce ourselves," Jackie said.

"_Ever the dutiful neighbor,"_ Robert said with a chuckle, _"I think that is a great idea. I'll meet them this weekend when I'm not at work."_

"Alright," Jackie agreed, "I will see you tonight."

"_Tonight,"_ Robert agreed, _"I love you Jackie."_

"Love you too Robert," Jackie said and ended the call. She made her way into the kitchen to pull out ingredients to make a bundt cake when she heard the quick steps of her two year old flit down the stairs.

"Mumma," Hermione called excitedly.

"In the kitchen Hermione," Jackie called back. She could hear the swift footsteps as her daughter ran into the room.

"Mumma new friends!" Hermione said her eyes bright with excitement.

"You saw the new neighbors?" Jackie asked.

"Uh huh," Hermione said nodding her head, "can I go play?"

"Not right now Hermione," Jackie said, "after your nap we'll go over and meet them. Now why don't you go grab one of your books in the livingroom and read for a bit before your nap."

"Okay Mumma," Hermione said and ran off to the other room. Jackie smiled thinking about the excitement she saw in her young daughter at the prospect of new friends. "I hope they get along," she mused to herself out loud. She got the ingredients out for the cake before going into the livingroom to read with Hermione like they did every afternoon.

The cake was baking and while Hermione still slept Jackie took the time to think about the new neighbors. She went back to the window and saw the cars were still there but had seen no large lorry used to move furniture. "Hmm, that's odd I wonder where their furniture is?" She said out loud to the empty room.

Two hours later Hermione asked for the umpteenth time, "Mumma, can we meet my new friends? I've been a good girl...please?" She looked at her Mum with that look that Jackie could never say no to.

"Alright, alright, go get your jacket," Jackie replied. She went to the closet and to grab her jacket only to find Hermione holding it for her with an eager smile. Chucking, Jacket put on her jacket and picked up the waiting cake, "Okay let's go," she grinned at her precocious daughter.

* * *

><p>As Lily put the finishing touches on the livingroom of the main house the doorbell rang. 'I'll get it," she called out. Reaching the door to waved her wand muttered a charm to reveal who was at the door. To her surprise it was a young woman and a cute little girl realizing that the woman was a muggle. She opened the door cautiously to greet the guests.<p>

"Hi, welcome to the neighborhood," Jackie said as she held out the cake. "I'm Jackie Granger and this is my daughter Hermione. We live right next door," she said. "Hermione saw your two children and wanted to meet her 'new friends'," she replied with a rueful grin on her face.

Lily smiled and relaxed her stance, "Why thank you, won't you come in?" she said as James came up behind her.

As James put his hand on her back she could feel as he held his wand out of the muggles sight. "Is everything okay, Love?" he asked cautiously.

"This is Jackie and Hermione Granger, our new neighbors. They wanted to welcome us," she said in a tone that told him to relax.

Entering the foyer, Jackie was surprised to see the house furnished. She removed Hermione's jacket, then her own handing them to James' waiting hand. "Would you like some tea? James, would you go get Harry so he can meet our neighbors?" She asked. "Come, come in and make yourself comfortable. I'm Lily and this is my husband James and our son Harry," she said just as James returned with Harry.

When Harry came into the room Hermione made a beeline for him. "Hi," She exclaimed, "My name is Hermione! What is yours?" She asked giving him a hug.

Harry grinned and tried to hug her back but lost his balance knocking both pf them to the floor. Laughing the two untangled themselves while their parents looked on.

"Me Hawwy. Dats Dada n dats Mummy." Harry managed to say with a grin as he pointed to them. Harry leaned over and gave Hermione a wet kiss on her cheek. "You Hewmyny," he said as he attempted to say her name.

"Harry, you can call me Mynie if you want. Where's your brother? Hermione replied.

Lily chuckled, "Draco isn't his brother but his cousin." As if on cue, Narcissa walked into the room carrying Draco.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Narcissa said quickly.

"No Cissy you didn't. This is Jackie and Hermione Granger our next door neighbors. We were just getting acquainted. Jackie this is Cissy and her son Draco, James' cousins. Cissy, why don't you join us? I'll go make some tea for everyone. Will Luc and Sev be joining us?" Lily said. "James have Siri and Remus come back yet?" She asked.

Cissy smiled brightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you both" she said while putting Draco on the floor with Harry and Hermione.

"Hi Draco I'm Hermione" Hermione said before reaching over and embracing him a hug. "Now we can be bestest friends!" She exclaimed. Hermione plopped herself down between Harry and Draco. "But you can call me Mynie like Harry." She told the young blonde boy before hooking her arms into both boys' arms.

James smiled, "I think I heard them just before I came in. I expect to..." James was cut off by a barking laugh heard throughout the house.

"Prongsie! Where is my godson? He's not in his..." Sirius stopped when he walked into the room, Remus following behind him, eyes closed and shaking his head at his friend, collided with Sirius' back.

"Padfoot," he started to exclaim before stopping when he saw the guests. He looked to James questioningly. James just shook his head slightly knowing both of his mates would understand, for now. "Please excuse our interruption ladies" Remus said as he poked Sirius in the side.

"Um...oh yes we didn't men to be rude. Who is this beautiful angel attached to Harry and Draco?" He replied quickly.

"Sirius, Remus these are our new neighbors. This is Jackie and Hermione Granger. They wanted to welcome us to the neighborhood."

James, who slipped out during the introductions, returned with tea for everyone and small china plates and forks for the cake. "Tea is served," He said as he set the tray with everything on it upon the coffee table. "Siri," James said, "Could you go see if Luc and Sev would like to join us?"

"Sure" he said after a minute. "Be right back. Don't have cake without me!"

Lily shook her head with a wry grin, "He never misses out on food" she said through a chuckle. "So Jackie, what do you do, I mean besides take care of your little angel?" She asked.

"My husband and I are dentists," she replied and was surprised at the puzzlement on most everyone's faces.

Sirius returned with Luc and Sev in tow just in time to hear what Jackie said. Luc mouthed "Dentists?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders.

Lucius walked into the room with Severus a few steps behind him. When Severus looked at their guest he stopped walking abruptly as he recognized her. Lily introduced Lucius and as she started to introduce Severus, Jackie spoke up.

"Severus? Severus Snape is that you?" Jackie asked with surprise.

Severus smirked, "Jackie Merriweather? Lily you know Jackie from before we went to school in Scotland."

Lily looked back at Jackie and smiled with recognition, "Why of course! I thought you looked familiar! I was Lily Evans." Lily exclaimed.

Jackie looked from Severus to Lily while realization came over her. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Lily! It is you! I thought you looked familiar but it's been a very long time since I've seen you. Didn't you go away to a private boarding school?" she finished with a grin.

"Yes, Severus and I both went to the same school together. That's how we all met." Lily said gesturing to all of the people in the room.

Cissy sat up a bit straighter and said, "Merriweather, Merriweather, Luc I remember that old family name from our ancestry classes."

"Hmmm..."Lucius mused, "You're right Cissy, but I'll have to check into it."

"Old family name? Ancestry classes?" Jackie asked a bit confused.

"Oh I'm sorry; some of the older families tend to teach their children about ancestry and genealogy as an addition to history taught in school. It's believed that we should always know where and from whom we come from." Cissy told Jackie.

"Really? I would love to know my family's ancestry." Jackie replied quickly. "My family hasn't talked much about our roots past my grandfather. They've been pretty close lipped about it. I only have ever gotten snippets of information when they thought I wasn't around to hear it."

"Well then I think we can do some research on it together," Lily said with a smile.

"Prongsie, I think I just heard Lily's favorite word, we'd better hide." Sirius said while holding back laughter.

"What is wrong with..." Lily started to say before the sounds of the children made her trail off. All of the adults turned to the children on the floor. Harry and Draco were having a tug-of-war with a stuffed animal. They got a bit more aggressive and noisy when Hermione intervened. Right before the eyes of the adults Hermione touched both boys on the arm. To the amazement of the adults a bright blue light went into Draco and a bright gold one went into Harry instantly making them stop their struggle over the toy and smile brightly. The shocked adults turned to face each other noticing the dumbfounded look on Jackie's face.

"Umm...what just happened?" Jackie asked. "What were those lights that came from Hermione?"

The other adults looked at Jackie and then each other. Severus spoke up, "I think we should have a chat. Lily, since we know her the best and you know best how this can go, why don't you start off."

"Yes, well...I..." Lily started before Jackie's look of confusion and a trace of fear made her mind up as to how to broach the subject immediately gave her a starting point. "Jackie, I know the confusion you are feeling as I'm pretty sure that my parents felt the same way about me." Lily said taking Jackie's hands into hers. "I know how this is going to sound but please bear with me and keep an open mind."

Jackie looked into Lily's emerald green eyes and saw the pleading look in her eyes and said, "Go on, I'll listen and keep an open mind."

Lily looked around at the other adults and said, "I wish your husband was here for this conversation."

"If it's that important," she said looking at her watch, "Let me call and see what the rest of his schedule looks like. Do you have a phone yet?" she replied to Lily.

"Oh yes, it's right this way." Lily said and took her into the other room to make the call.

Cissy was watching the children interact and was amazed to see that all three children were working together to stack up the wooden blocks. Hermione set up the base and the boys helped her build a small wooden pyramid. She was brought bck to the adults with Lily and Jackie returning to the room.

"Robert will be here in 15 minutes." Jackie said. "He didn't have any more appointments scheduled for the afternoon, so he decided to call it a day. He had just finished up with the last one."

"Well since it's going to be dinner time soon, maybe you'll join us for dinner?" Lily suggested.

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><p><em><strong>AN 2: Okay sorry for the wait here is chapter 1. Sorry it's short. Will try to make the next one longer. Remember, enjoy and please R&R**_

_**~Lahotes Girl & Scorpiodragonfly**_


	3. Age of Enlightenment

_**A/N 1 From Scorpiodragonfly: As previously stated neither myself nor LaHotes Girl own nor will ever own Harry Potter but we are grateful for the opportunity to play in the world she created. While I know that some fanfic authors update weekly, I cannot promise that I will. I will promise however, I will attempt to update as quickly as I can while LaHote's Girl is tied up with college classes. So without any further ado, on with the story! Thanks for reading and please review!**_

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><p><em>Change the Fates Design<em>

_Chapter 2: Age of Enlightenment_

As Jackie led Robert into the living room he noticed several things at once. First he saw his cherub sitting on the floor with two other toddlers actually bubbling with laughter playing with the boys. He could never tire hearing her so happy. The second thing he noticed was the seven adults also sitting in the room. Lastly he noticed the apprehension coming from all of the adults. "Hi I'm Robert, Jackie's husband," he said with an outstretched hand to the nearest adult male.

"It's very nice to meet you Robert I'm James," James said as he stood to take Robert's hand and shook it. "This is my wife Lily, my friends Sirius, Remus, Lucius, his wife Cissy and a longtime friend of Lily's Severus." Each of the men rose and shook his hand while Lily and Cissy remained seated smiling as they each greeted him.

Hermione, hearing her father's voice, looked up and squealed happily, "Daddy!" She got up and toddled over to him hugging his legs. He noticed the two boys got up and hugged his legs like Hermione did while grinning and talking mostly in a language only another toddler would understand.

"Who are your new friends Hermione?" Robert asked as he crouched down to greet the children and hug Hermione.

"Harry and Draco, my bestest friends Daddy," She said matter-of-factly before she took both of their hands and walked back over to the toys they had abandoned to greet Robert.

Lily rose from her seat looking to Jackie, "How about I take the kids into the playroom so we can talk," She asked.

Jackie, understanding that they were going to have a serious conversation nodded, "Why don't I give you a hand," she replied.

Cissy rose and the three women took the children to another part of the house. Entering the playroom, Cissy watched as Jackie looked around for any possible dangers that a toddler can and undoubtedly would find.

"Do you have a child monitor so we can hear them if something happens?" Jackie asked.

"Yes, we have a monitoring system in place," Cissy said with a smile. "They will be completely safe and monitored closely."

Hesitantly she looked around again only for Hermione to wriggle out of her grasp and run over to join the boys. "Well I guess she feels safe with her new friends," Jackie said with a smile. "Okay, let's go back and join the men."

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><p>In the living room meanwhile, the guys got familiar with each other, the magicals finding that Robert was really easy to get along with. As the ladies returned to the room Robert remembered the apprehension in Jackie's voice when she called him at work. <em>'Okay now comes the serious conversation'<em> Robert thought to himself.

"Now will you explain to me what happened earlier?" Jackie asked causing Robert to look at her questioningly.

All of the other adults looked at each other, everyone settling their gazes upon both Lily and Severus. Both nodded in ascent. Lily started off looking directly at Jackie, "This is going to be hard for both of you to believe but please bear with us we try to explain." Jackie looked at Robert then they both nodded their heads in agreement. With a grateful sigh Lily began, "What you saw earlier Jackie was what we call accidental magic. When the boys started fighting over the toy Hermione got upset that her 'bestest friends' were not getting along and her magic responded in kind to cheer them up so they wouldn't be fighting anymore," Now she was watching the Grangers as they took in the information they had been given so far. Seeing them with questions in their eyes instead of disbelief encouraged her to go on. "Do you remember when we were younger and how mean Petunia was to me and Sev?" Lily asked Jackie.

"Yes I do, though I didn't understand why." Jackie replied remembering Petunia calling them freaks and screeching at them. "What does that have to do with what happened today?" She asked.

Lily looked at Severus then took a deep breath then exhaling it slowly before she continued. "I learned at 8 years old that I was a witch from Sev, who is a wizard. I met Sev then and at first Petunia seemed to like him until...well until I had a bout of accidental magic causing a wilted lily that Sev gave me to regenerate itself in my hand becoming alive and beautiful again. I was so surprised then Petunia asked me what I had done. I didn't know but Sev provided me with the answer.

_Flashback:_

_ Lily and Petunia were climbing their favorite tree when they saw Severus walking towards them in the field. Lily climbed down the tree greeting Severus. He held out his hand which held a sad looking lily to his friend. "I'm sorry its wilted I tried to get it to you yesterday but you weren't here. So I brought it today." he said quietly. Lily took the flower into her hands looking sadly at it while fervently wishing it was still alive. Right before her eyes it regenerated itself and now looked brilliantly alive and healthy._

"_What happened?" Petunia asked Lily anxiously._

"_I don't know Tuney, it just changed all by itself." Lily replied looking from Petunia to Severus._

_Severus smiled with a knowing look in his eyes. "You made it happen Lily, you brought it back to life with magic," he said with confidence._

_Lily looked at him in astonishment. "No that can't be possible. How could I do magic?" she said._

"_It is simple," he started, "You are a witch."_

"_Witched are old and ugly with warts an long hooked noses," Petunia yelled. "Witches are evil even the bible says so!"_

_Severus shook his head in disbelief at Petunia's statement. At 8 years old he thought everyone knew that neither witches nor wizards, well mostly, weren't inherently evil. "Tuney, she is a witch, I am a wizard and neither of us are evil," he told her. He took a step towards her; she backed away with a look of horror in her eyes."_

_Petunia stumbled slightly as she tried to take a few steps backwards. Turning on the spot she ran off screaming at them, "I'm going to tell on you! You'll see, Dad and Mum will agree with me!"_

_End flashback:_

Jackie looked at Robert before looking back to Lily then to Severus. She remembered how mean Petunia had become towards Lily for no apparent reason. "Okay," she said, "I remember how mean Petunia got to you. That was shortly after you introduced me to Severus. So you're saying that you are a witch and Severus is an... ummm... a wizard? And everyone else here is..."

"The same, as Sev and I," Lily began, "The thing is, within the magical world its against the law to tell anyone, who is not magical, about our world. Other than what you saw earlier today has anything odd ever happened around Hermione when she was either overly excited or extremely upset?"

Robert looked to Jackie who nodded and said, "Well, a few weeks ago we had friends over who has a young child around Hermione's age. That child is a very spoiled child and refused to share toys with Hermione then had a temper tantrum because Hermione picked up another toy that he wanted. When I went into the playroom I walked in at the same time Hermione got upset and one of the toys launched itself at the spoiled child hitting him in the face, fortunately it was a stuffed animal, a large one that knocked him over from his sitting position on to the floor, he wasn't hurt but he stopped his tantrum."

James started chuckling breaking out into loud laughter along with Sirius' barking laughter and the snickering from Severus, Lucius and Remus. Lily and Cissy were trying to maintain their composure but you could see the laughter in their eyes. Lily finally said, "Yes, that would be accidental magic. I'm sorry for the laughter but I would imagine that when you saw it, after the initial shock, you found it humorous as well."

"I'm a bit confused though, neither of us are magical how is it that Hermione is?" Jackie asked confusion clear on her face.

"Well, there is a theory for that," Cissy began before looking to Lucius for assistance. "Our theory is that there is most likely someone in one of your families that came from Magical Britain."

Lily, knowing that the pureblood families had books that updated themselves magically when another branch is added, spoke up quickly, "James isn't there a book in the library about magical ancestry?"

"Why don't we pick this back up after supper? I'm sure the kids are getting hungry, I know I am." James said.

"Oh my goodness look at the time!" Lily exclaimed. "Would you show our new friends to the dining room while Cissy and I go collect the children."

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><p>The dining room was fairly large with a beautiful long oak table with matching chairs but it really looked larger as the table sat 12 easily. Jackie smiled to see three highchairs mixed in amongst the chairs showing her that the children were part of the conversations around them. James led her to one of the chairs, pulled it out for her and helped her sit. Jackie thought that was a show but changed her mind when everyone was in the room and after the children were settled in all of the men did the same for each of the ladies present. 'Proper gentlemen, chivalry isn't dead after all' Jackie thought to herself.<p>

Dinner was served and casual conversation floated around the table with the three children putting their two cents in. Then Jackie asked the inevitable question, "So," she began, "What should we expect for Hermione now?" She looked around the table to the adult magicals.

Looking from one to another then James looked to Lily as she would know what the Grangers would be going through. Lily nodded to them all, she started the ball rolling. "Well, since my parents were in your shoes once I should be able answer most of your questions. Hermione is a very special little girl as she is already a talented little girl. I'm sure you can expect amazing things from her."

"Where is 'Magical Britain'?" Robert asked curiously. "I mean I've never seen anything odd within our community. Everything is normal."

Lucius spoke up, "'Magical Britain' is all around you unseen by those who don't have the knowledge of its existence but as life goes things happen to expose us, non-magical people tend to come up with their own explanations."

"You said something about a theory you believe is the answer to why we, being non-magical, find ourselves with a magical child. Can you elaborate on that theory?" Jackie asked.

Lily looked to James who in turn got up, "Excuse me, I will be right back so we can discuss this better." he said. As he left the room the empty dinner dishes vanished from the table and their dessert of tiramisu appeared on the table. A sudden gasp drew Cissy's attention to Jackie, "Are you okay Jackie?" she asked.

"Oh, my goodness, I think so. I was just caught off guard, the dishes disappeared and then there was dessert right in front of me. I guess getting used to magic is going to take a bit." Jackie replied.

James returned at that moment with a large tome in his hands. Seeing this evidently old tome caught both of the Grangers attention, both being very avid readers. He handed the book over to Cissy knowing this was her favorite research subject, ancestry and genealogy.

Cissy opened the book and started shuffling the pages. "You said your maiden name is Merriweather?" Cissy asked Jackie.

Yes it is, why do you ask?" Jackie replied.

"Well as I mentioned earlier I thought I recognized the name and found I was right. Look here," Cissy said as she handed her the large book, "Do you recognize any of these names?"

Jackie took the book and started skimming the names in front of her and stopped with a sudden gasp. "Robert," she said suddenly. "Look here and tell me I'm seeing things."

Robert looked at the page that Jackie indicated. "Jackie isn't that your grandfather's name and birth date?" he asked.

"How is this possible?" Jackie asked Cissy. "My grandfather never said he had brothers and a sister or for that matter that I have cousins!"

Cissy pointed to a mark on the page next to her grandfather's name. "This mark here means that your grandfather was what we refer to as a squib, or a child from a magical family that has little to no magical power. Usually when a child with no significant magical power is left at an orphanage shortly after birth. It looks like his family raised him to his majority when he was removed from the magical world and he then had to live in the non-magical world. This not a common experience as most feel it is cruel to raise a child around magic but then put out on the street, for lack of a better phrase, and forced to live in a world he is unaccustomed to. Your family obviously wanted him to know his roots just in case a magical child appeared in the family. Is he still alive?"

Jackie looked dumbfounded at first but as Cissy talked the more some things made sense to her. His stories about his youth seemed fanciful to her as a child but now made perfect sense. "Yes he is still alive; actually he is 102 years old. He's out-lived my grandmother by more than 25 years and is still active, healthy and uncharacteristically spry. Is that normal in your world?" was her response.

"Really? 102 years old? Well that is actually quite normal in the magical world. I wonder if, at some point, I or we could meet him. I'm sure he can answer some of your questions regarding your family." Lucius replied.

Robert sat contemplating the conversation when he picked up on one statement, "Would there be any way to track a family line of a child put in an orphanage?" He asked.

"Well, there is but it's usually a long shot. Why do you ask?" Lucius answered his question.

"I was left at an orphanage when I was only a couple of days old. No one at the orphanage knew how I ended up there or where I came from. When I was grown I asked one of the more senior attendants. She said that I had just appeared in one of the cribs. I was adopted by the Grangers who were unable to conceive. I just wonder if maybe that's what happened to me." He finished quietly.

"There is only one way that I know of to determine your lineage but its only done within the walls of our banking system." Remus stated, "if you are interested in taking the chance."

"What do you mean by 'taking the chance'?" Robert asked.

"Well, others have had the same test done and when found they had no magical genes, they had their memories altered. Though I don't think it will happen to you as you have Jackie's family and Hermione herself being magical. It has happened to others that I've known but as I said I think it won't be risky for you." Sirius answered.

Once everyone finished their dessert and got up from the table the children started getting fussy. "Oh dear, I think the children are ready for bed." Lily said.

"I guess it's time to take Hermione home and put her to bed." Jackie said as she picked Hermione up from her highchair. As they left the dining room and started walking in opposite directions Harry started fussing loudly and Hermione let out a screech that sounded like HARRRRY...NO! Then Draco let loose a wail of his own, nearly as loud as Harry and Hermione's. All three mothers stopped dead in their tracks looking back at each other. The children continued to wail until the mothers started walking back toward each other. Only when the children were closer together the wailing stopped as suddenly as it started. They started talking to each other in the lovely language only other toddlers understand. All of the adults looked at each other completely flummoxed.

"Wow, that has never happened before," All three mothers said at the same time. Then chuckling to each other; they took the children to the nursery and went to put the boys in their cribs when they started wailing again. "Now what?" Lily asked.

Well, we could expand one of the cribs and put them all in one, couldn't we? Cissy suggested. Looking more at Jackie for a response.

"Expand a crib?" she started to say when she watched Lily remove what looked like a small branch of a tree and with an intricate movement of the stick and Harry's crib expanded to twice its size. "Wow, you did that with a small tree branch." Jackie said in utter amazement.

"Actually it's a wand; all magicals get their first wand at 11 years old just before they start at their magical school. The same school we all went to." Lily told Jackie. They put all three children in the magically expanded crib. Watching the children snuggle in together the three mothers smiled as they watched their little ones drift off to sleep.

Stepping out of the room, with the lights down low the mothers looked at each other knowing they were going to be close for very long time.

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><p>The house at 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging was anything but normal or quiet. Petunia was trying to put her son Dudley to bed but every time she tried to leave the room Dudley would start wailing. This time when she turned around she saw toys flying around the room. She rushed over and picked up Dudley and decided try to rock him to sleep. She knew what just happened but didn't dare let her husband Vernon know. He hated everything about magic and she knew he would blow his top if he saw toys flying around the room. So she rocked and crooned bedtime songs to Dudley until he finally drifted off to sleep. Petunia gently placed him in his crib. She stood there for a few minutes to make sure he didn't wake up. Petunia knew she had make the much dreaded to call her sister, after how horribly she had treated Lily because of her magic she now had to apologize to her sister and ask her for help.<p>

As she left the nursery Vernon called to her, "You took long enough to put him down to bed. Marge and I had to wait for you to serve dessert!" he bellowed. "What took you so bloody long?"

"Well Dudders wasn't ready for bed so I had to rock him to sleep." Petunia explained. "I'll get your dessert now, Dear."

She brought them their dessert and sat on the end of the couch thinking while they ate and talked. She tried to formulate an apology to her sister that would be as heart felt and sincere. She now understood how her mother felt when Lily started showing signs of magic. At least her mother had her father to help her out. She knew with an absolute fact that Vernon will go ballistic when he finds out. That scared her more than Dudley's accidental magic or having to face Lily's husband and their friends who she had treated poorly in the past. She was suddenly drawn out of her thoughts when Vernon yelled at her for being so stupid she couldn't even pay attention to his and Marge's conversation to know when she was asked a question. "What? What did you ask?" Petunia said.

We want brandy, right bloody now!" Vernon bellowed. Marge sat there just making comments, under her breath, about how stupid and incompetent Petunia was.

She dutifully got them the brandy they wanted wishing desperately she could go to bed. Finally, after several more glasses of brandy Marge decided it was time to go home. She reminded Vernon that her precious little dog Ripper was waiting for his Mummy to come home slurring most of her words while getting wobbily to her feet. She left and Vernon was so pissed from all of the brandy he drank that Petunia had to help him up the stairs being a tall, thin rail of a woman trying to keep the walrus that was her husband upright, she knew that if he even tripped she would pay for it the next day. So she tugged and strained but managed to get him to their bedroom and onto their bed.

The next morning after Vernon finally left for work she went upstairs to their bedroom. She walked over to her jewelry box. She picked it up and carefully pushed on a spot on the bottom of the box. A small compartment opened up, slipping her fingers inside she withdrew a piece of folded paper from the compartment before closing it up. She silently thanked Lily for charming it so it always remained hidden to everyone but her and Lily. Setting the box down she walked over to the bedside table she picked up the phone and dialed the number that was on the small piece of paper.

Lily, Cissy and Jackie were sitting in the solarium watching the children play together quietly. "I have never seen Hermione so happy and quiet." Jackie said breaking the silence.

The phone started ringing. Lily got up to answer it knowing it could only be one person. "Petunia, what's wrong?" She asked when she answered the phone. "Petunia, calm down and tell me what's wrong."

Cissy and Jackie turned their attention to Lily hearing the fear in her voice. "How did she know who was on the phone?" Jackie asked.

"There is only one other person besides you and Robert who has that phone number, her sister." Cissy said quietly while keeping her attention focused on Lily.

"Tuney, slow down please, good now tell me calmly what is going on. Yes, ok you're doing good. Oh dear...yes, yes...okay I'll talk to James when he gets back. Yes, I'll call you back before Vernon gets home, I promise Tuney." Lily said just before she hung up. She turned back to her friends her face was tear streaked.

"Do I have to hex someone for making you cry?" Cissy asked making Lily start laughing.

"No, it's something I didn't anticipate. Of course you know that was my sister Petunia. She has found herself in quite a dilemma. Apparently last night my nephew had a bout of accidental magic." Lily replied.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Jackie asked.

"Not at the moment, my sister, you remember her Jackie; well the man she married is the worst sort of human being. He's mean, abusive and controlling but worst of all, he absolutely hates magic. His opinion of magical people is that we're all freaks. If he finds out about Dudley being magical, Tuney is going to be in big trouble with him. I wouldn't put it passed him to start beating on the poor boy and Tuney. I really don't know what to do. I told her I would talk to James when he..." she trailed off as she heard the sound of the SUV pulling into the drive. "That should be him," Lily said.

"Do you want us to leave so you have some privacy to talk to him?" Jackie asked putting an arm around Lily's shoulders.

"No, this is something the family needs to decide together and like it or not your family now since we can't seem to pry our children apart." Lily said with a small laugh.

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><p><em><strong>AN 2 from Lahote's Girl: Check it guys new chapter within four days! Hope you guys like this. Please read and review. Look forward to James and Lily's discussion about Petunia's problem next time… **_

_**~Lahote's Girl & Scorpiodragonfly**_


	4. Dawning Realities

_**A/N From Scorpiodragonfly: As we've stated before we do not own the magical world of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does but allows all of us to play in her world. Just a few answers to some questions: **_

_**happylady-your answer is in the prologue,also we absolutely love a good Harry/Hermione as well**_

_**dennisud-It wouldn't be a proper Harry/Hermione story without Luna, **_

_**Carolyn12-I prefer Good Malfoys and Snape. Just wait for the surprise character that is to come. **_

_**Thank you for the awesome reviews!**_

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><p><em>Change the Fate's Design<em>

_Chapter 3: Dawning Realities_

James, Sirius and Remus returned from their trip to Gringotts laughing and joking as they entered the house. Hiding in the muggle world meant they had to drive into London and enter the magical world through Diagon Alley disillusioned until they entered Gringotts special clients' room. The Goblins knew enough to protect their V.I.P. vault holder's privacy.

"Jemma," James called. With a pop Jemma appeared to James.

"Yes, Master James?" Jemma asked quietly. "What can I's do for you?"

"Where is Lily?" he asked.

"Shes in the solarium with the babies and other Mistresses," she answered. "Shes asking me to tell her when yous returned."

"Thank you Jemma," he said.

"Uh-oh, I think something is up," he said to the other two Marauders as they nodded their heads in agreement. They headed to the solarium.

"I have an idea as to how to help your sister and nephew," Cissy said. "When the boys join us I'll put it out for discussion."

The Marauders entered the solarium to see the children playing on the floor with some kind of educational toys. Padfoot slipped into dog form to play with the kids. Hermione squealed with delight while Jackie nearly had a heart attack.

"Whoa!" Jackie exclaimed. "I didn't know you had a dog. Is he safe around the kids?"

Lily and Cissy burst out laughing, "Padfoot you had better show yourself!" Lily said still chuckling.

Right before her eyes the big black dog morphed into Sirius. "Wow!" Jackie said with surprise. "It's going to take a bit to get used to magic I guess."

"Right now that you three have returned, would one of you go and get Luc and Sev please," Cissy said. "Ladies, let's go put the children in the playroom so we can have our conversation." James left the room in search of Luc and Sev.

With a joint nod between them, they each picked up the nearest child and left the room. As they were leaving, Lily said to Remus and Sirius, "Would one of you ask Jemma for tea and biscuits in the study please?"

When the ladies entered the study all of the guys had assembled and were talking about the recent Quidditch match between Puddlemere United and the Holyhead Harpies. Sirius was teasing James that Puddlemere was beaten by an all-female team.

"Guys can we get your minds off Quidditch for a bit?" Lily asked. Understanding it wasn't really a question but more of a statement they turned their attention to the ladies.

"What's up Lily-bug?" James asked.

"We have a bit of a situation that needs be discussed and resolved," Lily said getting their full attention.

"What kind of situation?" Lucius asked.

"I had a phone call earlier," Lily said. "To make a long story short, my sister called and is in an extremely time sensitive situation. Dudley has had a bout of accidental magic and Tuney is terrified that he is going to do that in front of Vernon and we all know what could happen if he does."

"Wow, really!?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Well, Lily, what would you like to do? She is your sister and I know how much you still love her regardless of how she treated you," Severus said.

"I think we should help her but I'm not sure how," Lily said. "James this affects you as well, what do you think?"

James, always helping those in need, said, "I think we should first get her to a safe place. We will still have to deal with Dursley and he won't give up easily."

"Well, you and Sirius are technically still Aurors, how about a minor memory charm?" Remus suggested. "You could make it that he never got married."

"What about Tuney and Dudley?" Lily asked.

"We need to get her out before Vernon gets home today. I have a suggestion, but it would have to be agreed upon by all of us." Lucius said.

At this point Jackie spoke up, "Should I leave, as this is a family decision and I'm not..." Jackie started to say before Cissy interrupted her.

"No Jackie, as Lily said earlier you are now family and it will ultimately affect you, Hermione and Robert as well," Cissy stated. Everyone in the room nodded in agreement with Cissy's statement.

"She's right Jackie, we would like your input as well. I think I would like to hear Lucius' suggestion," James said.

Everyone looked at Lucius, "Well, We have two houses out back..." He started to say.

"Wait, what? You have two houses out back? Where? I've never seen them," Jackie said.

Lucius chuckled but continued, "You'll see them now as I'm the secret keeper for them. As to my suggestion, we could put them in one of them. I was actually thinking to put them up in the house Severus is staying in. He could move into ours if he's uncomfortable staying there with her. I think that she will need the protection and help that we can offer her. Severus, what do you think?"

"Well," Severus started. "I think offering her the house is a good idea but let's leave the choice up to Petunia if she wants to share the house or if she wants to be in there alone. I'd be willing to stay if she wanted me to as she knows me better than anyone, other than Lily of course, here," He finished.

"I think the memory charm would be a good idea for Vernon, though I'd like to obliviate him into a drooling idiot," Sirius said.

James stood, "Okay, time for a family vote. All in favor of moving Petunia into one of the back houses," Everyone nodded. "All in favor of memory charming Dursley into believing he never married?" Again everyone nodded.

Jackie spoke up, "Don't they own a house together?"

Lily said, "No, the last conversation we had before we moved into Godric's Hollow. She told me the deed and mortgage was solely in his name."

"Okay, that was the only thing I had to ask," Jackie said.

"Alright, I'm going to call her back, be prepared to apparate over there to get them and then James and Sirius can stay until Vernon gets home and they can adjust his memories," Lily said as she got up and walked to the phone on the desk. "Hey, Tuney, it's me... yes... what? Oh my, he did that? Okay, calm down we're coming to get you both. Pack what you need we'll be there within the hour."

An hour later, Lily, Cissy, James and Sirius were standing in the living room at number 4 Privet Drive. Lily said to her sister, "Tuney, we're going to take you and Dudley to our house."

"What about Vernon?" Petunia asked with growing hysteria. "He's going to be angry that his dinner won't be on the table! He's going to come looking for me and Dudley!"

"Don't worry; James is going to make sure that Vernon will never come looking for you ever," Lily said in a calm, reassuring voice.

"What is he going to do? He's not going to kill him is he?" Petunia asked anxiously.

"No, he is not going to kill him, all he is going to do is tweak his memory a little so he has no memory of you or Dudley. You'll be completely safe," Cissy reassured her.

Lily side-along apparated Petunia to their house while Cissy brought Dudley with her... James and Sirius however, sat in the living room on Privet Drive waiting for Vernon, chatting.

"Padfoot, I've been thinking, I think we need to get Lucius and Severus in to see Amelia Bones in the DMLE. I just don't know if we should show up there or have her over to the house," James said. "What do you think?"

"Prongsie, I think for their safety and for the safety of Cissy and Draco it needs to happen. I think that Madam Bones should come to the house. There are still Death Eaters that would love to take them out. I would like to ask Frank first though; he's got two years as an Auror more than we have. They heard a car pull up outside, a door slammed and the front door thrown open slamming against the small decorative table behind the door causing the vase of flowers on it to fall to the floor with a crash.

"Petunia! Where are you? You stupid bint! You are supposed to be at the door waiting to take my things! PETUNIA!" the man bellowed.

Sirius looked at James and said, "It's showtime," with a mischievous smirk.

Vernon Dursley was a man who was used to the finer things in life, a dutiful, subservient wife, a son to call his heir and complete and total respect from all those who knew him, though he didn't have total respect anywhere but at home. He walked into the hallway, looking into the living room, expecting to see that stupid bint watching her dailies instead he saw two men standing there who looked vaguely familiar. All of a sudden recognition was apparent in his eyes followed by righteous indignation. "Get out! Get out of my house you freaks! Petunia you ignorant bint, why did you let these freaks into MY house!? PETUNIA!" He practically screamed his face contorted in anger, and turning nearly purple with rage. He heard nothing; he felt, however, a cool, calm feeling cover his entire body.

When he was calm and glassy-eyed James said, "He's ready Padfoot."

"I really don't like this git Prongs," Sirius said, "I want so badly to prank this pile of waste, one that will stay with him even after I adjust his memory."

"Padfoot, I think you're on to something," James said smirking. "I have an idea, but do the memory charm first."

Sirius started the intricate wand movements then removed anything that has to do with either Petunia or Dudley, while Vernon was still under the effects of the first spell used to calm him down, James moved his wand in another pattern placing him in a never ending spell known only to the Potter family.

James chuckled when he was finished, "Come on Padfoot, time to go."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked.

"We've got to go before he comes out of the first spell," James said and then apparated out. Sirius followed him a second before Dursley's head cleared. They landed in the yard with a quiet pop.

"Alright Prongs, out with it," Sirius said while James was grinning like a loon.

"It's an old Potter family spell, one that will cause him to lose his temper with any female who think they are better than him and it will only trigger the first time some woman doesn't cower in his presence like he thinks they should," James said. "It won't matter if it's a stranger, co-worker, female relative or even female authority figure."

"Prongs that's sheer genius," Sirius said. They walked in the back door to the sounds of children playing and laughing.

"Now that's a sound I will never tire of hearing," James said to Sirius, who couldn't help but agree with him.

**~o~0~o~**

In an elaborately decorated office in the Scottish Highlands a man, with long flowing white hair and beard, wearing blues robes with hippogriffs flying around his body, was sitting at the desk holding his head in his hands wondering how his carefully designed plan went so wrong. It was the perfect plan. He had told both couples about the prophesy, making them all fear for their sons lives. He convinced them to go into hiding using the Fidelis charm for their protection. He then convinced one of the couples to change their secret keeper while encouraging the other couple to use him as their secret keeper by using an old, obscure charm that made them think it was their idea.

Albus Dumbledore had had his game plan figured out. James and Lily would die, leaving young Harry an orphan, and completely in his control. He would also tell the Longbottoms that it was safe to return knowing full well that Death Eaters were still looking for them. This way he would have control over both boys, that is, if they lived.

Albus was many things, but confused and dumbfounded he never was either, until now. Where were the bodies of James and Lily? Where was Harry? Where were the Longbottoms, they had disappeared from their safe house before he could contact them to set that part of the plan in action. Sirius was supposed to be dead, or at the very least, in Azkaban, if Peter had done his job right. _'Bloody hell,'_ he thought to himself, _'I should have used someone more capable of handling such a simple task.' _Hisplan was perfectly orchestrated, if he did say so himself, and he did because no one else could say it until Voldemort was gone forever. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how it fell apart so quickly. Hagrid had come back two nights ago, empty handed, without the child who was supposed to be under his control. Harry would weaken Voldemort before the boy died, leaving it up to him to swoop down and save the entire magical world.

He would be revered, putting him right up there with Merlin and the Founders of Hogwarts. Stories about him would be told to children, books would be written, and he would go down history beloved by all. Now, though, if he didn't get things back on the course he had planned, he'd be lucky if he got remembered as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. If things spiraled out of control his portrait as headmaster would be on the wall of shame gracing the same bathroom inhabited by Moaning Myrtle and that could not be allowed to happen. Albus shuddered at that thought. _'No I cannot let that happen, I have to find them and fix this' _he thought. He decided it was due time to have a discussion with both of their favorite teachers, Minerva and Filius. _'They must know something and I will find out what by any means necessary' _he thought. He decided to try Legilimency on them.

Minerva was walking down the corridor making her rounds making sure no one was out after curfew. She saw her Gryffindor prefects coming towards her. "Is everything ok?" she asked of them.

"So far everyone seems to be settled for the night Professor. Professor Dumbledore was looking for you on the 7th floor near the Gryffindor Tower. He told me if I saw you to let you know he wanted to speak to you," said the Prefect.

"Thank you for the message. I think you can go back to your dorm to work on homework. Everything is quiet tonight," Professor McGonagall said. _'It has been too quiet since The Marauder's graduated'_ She thought as she watched them walk away feeling a bit of pride of her cubs. She decided that Albus could wait until she had time; right now she had Transfiguration essays to grade, and of course the duties of the Deputy Headmistress. _'I canna' condone what I overheard from Albus yesterday. I thought it was odd that he sent Hagrid to Godric's Hollow in anticipation of James and Lily's deaths. How on earth did he KNOW what was going on?'_ Minerva mused. Now is not the time to face Albus alone, or with other people around. Her Scottish ire was up and until she calmed down, Albus would have to wait for his own good. All she could think of, was her favorite cubs had disappeared, she just hoped they were alright.

**~o~0~o~**

James and Sirius walked into the living room where all the giggles from the children were coming from. Sirius went over and sat down on the floor with the foursome and started playing with them. Remus was sitting in a comfortable soft leather chair with a very thick book. Lucius and Severus were playing Wizard's Chess and Cissy was relaxing, thoroughly enjoying watching Draco laughing and chattering with the other toddlers. He was the happiest she had ever seen him. Lily caught her eye and nodded. James and Lily went to the guest room where Petunia was lying down. Lily knocked on her door when Petunia responded she opened the door and they went in.

Inside Lily said, "Why don't we sit over by the windows and have some tea? Jemma!" The one house elf that they brought with them from Potter Manor popped in.

"I's is here Mistress Lily, what can I's do for yous?" she asked.

Lily smiled at Jemma, "would please you bring us some tea?"

"Yes Mistress Lily, I's would be happy to," Jemma said cheerily and popped out. She popped back in minutes later with tea and biscuits.

It was a good thing Petunia had already sat down on the love seat when Jemma popped in, out, in and out again as she looked like she was going to faint.

"Tuney," Lily began, "Are you alright? Here have some tea." Petunia took the cup with her shaking hands.

Sipping her tea Petunia decided what she needed to do. "Lily, James, I owe you an apology for how I treated you. I was so wrong about those awful things I said to you, about you both. I understand how scary it is to have such a big secret and no one to be able turn to. I will also apologize to Severus. I also wanted to say thank you for all that you are doing for my Dudley and me. She hung her head feeling the shame of her actions.

James reached over and touched her arm, "Hey there, we accept your apology, but you are family and we would never leave you alone to deal with this."

Petunia felt the need to continue though, "I need to say this to you both. I was particularly mean and cold to both of you and well... it was out of jealousy, I knew that then, but I couldn't stop myself. I... I knew it was wrong and petty of me, and that's not the way our parents raised us. Then I met Vernon and he use to talk about how he was going to be this bigwig at Grunnings, it would be only a matter of time when he would be up in the big offices with management. I was drawn into his talk believing; well I wanted to believe that if I married him and he became this corporate bigwig then I would get all of the attention you had received from them. Then they died right after Vernon and I married and everything I... I didn't want to see in him became clear finally, and too late.

"I found I was pregnant with Dudley right after Mum and Dad's deaths, and that's when he became vile and vicious in words while I was pregnant. After Dudley was born I thought I gave him a boy he's going to be so pleased and treat me like a queen. Well, I'm sure you know by now how that turned out and he demanded to know why you were so different from me, I felt obligated to tell him. I'm not making excuses for my behavior, it was deplorable, I was living in fear and I am completely ashamed about the way I treated my baby sister. Mum and Dad would be so disappointed in me," she purged. "So what do I do now?" she asked looking first to her sister then to James.

James gave Lily a long look that spoke volumes, Lily knew she had to start this part, "We have a plan, if and only if you are agreeable," watching her sister's body language and saw hope for the first time in a long time. "We have a place to live, with plenty of people around to help with Dudley both magical and muggle, other mothers to talk to and even one who is going through the same thing as you are." Lily kicked off the answer to her question.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN 2: So Lahote's Girl here… College still chaotic, and midterms are next week, but at least I can be Scorpio's Beta if nothing else. Would you guys please help me out here… *stage whispers* She thinks she's bad at writing, that she's nowhere near as good as me… Now our faithful readers, who seem to cling to her every word… Please tell her otherwise… She is not listening to me and I'm her flesh and blood… Can you believe that? Everything I know, she taught me… Grr… Okay I seem to be rambling a lot today…**_

_**For those of you who are following me as an author and have read my new piece from the Charmed fandom, please note the next chapter will be up…**_

_**Just as soon as I type it up….**_

_**I've got it handwritten…. All 3,812 words of it… Does that count?**_

_**So back on track… Look forward to our next installment of Change the Fates Design… Chapter still unknown… Until next time! Read and Review.**_

_**~Lahote's Girl & Scorpiodragonfly~**_

_**P.S. I think Scorpio may flip when she reads this... I'm entertaining the idea of going to hide under a rock...**_


	5. Saving Those Who Matter Family

_**A/N#1: Severus steps into the room, "Ahem..." he clears his throat..."I've been asked to tell you that neither Scorpiodragonfly nor LaHotesGirl..." he stops as he is interrupted by Sirius bounding into the room as Padfoot.**_

_**He quickly changes back into Sirius, "Don't listen to him, they own everything!"**_

_**Exasperated Severus grabs him by his collar and stops his bouncing as Remus enters shaking his head.**_

"_**Padfoot, Padfoot what are we going to do with you?" He asks.**_

_**Severus, still holding Sirius by his collar, "Remus, is he serious?"**_

"_**Of course he's Sirius but he's wrong. Ladies and Gentlemen, these authors do not own Harry Potter and those of his world you recognize. That is J.K. Rowling who owns it but graciously allows them to play in her backyard." Remus says turning to the audience.**_

_**Thank you for all of your reviews, they help inspire the muse. To the guest who is questioning the memory charm, I think you'll have your answer in this chapter.**_

* * *

><p><em>Change the Fates Design<em>

_Chapter 4: _

_Saving Those Who Matter; Family_

Lily had settled Petunia and Dudley in the smaller guest house and was now working on a charm to save some friends both pain and loss of life. James came into her study. "Lily-Bug," James said in an attempt to get her attention. He recognized her furrowed brow as she worked. He tried again, "Lily-Bug," just a bit louder.

"Hmm..." she responded while lost in thought. Then as if the sound had just registered in her head, "Oh, James, when did you get here?" she asked.

James smirked, "I've been here for about five minutes. You must be close to an answer. I came to ask first, if Petunia and Dudley were doing okay and second..." he trailed off.

"They're doing fine. I think I have the charm needed to break the bond, but I want to make sure of it before I test it. Do you know where Severus is?" Lily replied.

"Well, that's why I came to get you. We need to have a family meeting while Harry and Draco are at Jackie's." He said as he walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her in close to him. Burying his face in her neck, he inhaled her scent that had always been like a drug to him. "Mmm... you smell nice," he said barely above a whisper.

"Oh, right let's go," she said quickly. "I may have made a break though in my research." She added. "Save the neck nuzzling for later."

When they reached the living room everyone else was already there. "Sorry guys, I got wrapped up again." Lily said with a smile as she sat on the nearest sofa. "But I think I have found what I was missing." She added.

"Okay, Padfoot and Softpaw and I were thinking," James started to say.

"That could be a dangerous thing," Remus said and had Lucius smirking in agreement.

"We were thinking that we should contact the D.M.L.E. to protect our marked family members. Mainly to be up front and honest as you know that the remaining Death Eaters will be rounded up soon and this would go better if we went to them than waiting for them to find us." Severus said.

Lily looked at Lucius and Severus, "Is everyone in agreement?" She asked.

Lucius, understanding, said, "Yes, we are all in agreement."

"Okay, good. To add to that, I think I found what I've been looking for. I would need someone willing to go first, you know a guinea pig." Lily said.

Lucius and Cissy looked at Severus with confusion evident on their faces. Severus chuckled, "It's a muggle saying, you know a test subject?"

"Sometimes I will never get used to some of these muggle terms," Cissy said. "I know I will now that my two closest female friends will make sure of it," with a smirk.

"Okay, I have an idea on how to deal with the ministry. I think we should contact Amelia Bones. She's been an Auror for a while now and was our immediate boss on the Hit Wizard squad." Sirius said. "We could have her over, first just with James and myself, and feel her out so to speak. If anyone that can help, listen and help us set it up it's definitely her." He looked around the room waiting for everyone to digest the suggestion.

Lucius looked at Cissy while she worried her handkerchief with her hands. He gently rested his hand over her delicate ones and steadied her nerves. "Well Love? What do you think" he asked her softly.

She looked at Lucius then to Severus, "As long as you trust Amelia then so do I. I trust Lily implicitly. She was the top of our class and I know she would never do anything to hurt those she loves intentionally. I guess my question is; who is going to be the genie pig?"

Laughing quietly Severus said, "Its _guinea_ pig Cissy and I will be the guinea pig. Which are we going to do first?"

Lucius, still holding his wife's hand in his said, "Amelia first, if she agrees then, Sev you're up for testing"

"Before we finish here, I wanted to ask a question Petunia asked me." Lily said before zeroing in on James and Sirius. "I know you took care of Vernon's memories, but what about Marjorie and the neighborhood? Our parents and other family members are gone or not in touch anymore so that's not a problem. I really hope you two didn't forget the rest."

Sirius looked sheepishly to James with a subtle smirk. James did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at Sirius before responding. "We didn't forget. We... ah... kind of used a spell that a mutual friend within the Department of Mysteries uses a lot when... ah... activities get out of hand outside Wizarding Britain. It blankets the neighborhood so no one remembers Tuney and Dudley and any records, pictures or the like will just disappear. That's why we chose the spell from the DOM as it covers everything. It works best at night while people sleep and since they only moved in there a couple of months ago, there are no worries there. As for Marjorie, let's just say that to her Petunia and Dudley are the names of a couple of Yorkies down the block from her."

Lily's eyebrows quirked up, "Will you get in trouble for using that spell?" She asked.

"No," Sirius said, "It leaves no discernable magical signature so we're in the clear. Prongs, I think we need to get Frank, Alice and Neville over. We should talk with them about the next few weeks and I'm pretty sure Neville could use some friends to play with. What do you think Lily?"

"I think that is a brilliant idea," Lily said before she looked over to James and continuing with a grin, "Good boy Padfoot."

"What do you think Lil, did he earn a treat?" James managed to say through his laughter at the look on Sirius' face.

"I think I was just insulted," Sirius said. "But I think I'll go with the treat."

**~o~0~o~**

In the ballroom of the LeStrange Manor Bellatix LeStrange was tearing strips of the younger, newer Death Eaters. "What do you mean you don't know where our Master or that sniveling rat are? They couldn't have just vanished!" She railed as she cast the Crucio curse on her most recent victim.

"Bella love, we'll find them I promise and if Peter ran off and hid without watching our Master's back we'll bring him back, in pieces if necessary." Rudolphus said calmly to his wife. "We can't help our Master if you keep this up. We'll need everyone we have at our disposal."

"Have you heard from Lucius or Severus?" Rabastan asked. "We can't get into Malfoy Manor. All the wards are in lockdown, the floo is closed up and the closest anyone can get by apparation is a kilometer from the Manor."

"There is nothing, literally nothing, coming out of the Ministry. Nothing on those blood-traitors or the werewolf. It's been two days and nothing. We can't even find the Longbottoms! They haven't come back to work, nor has Black," Barty Crouch Jr. said. "Dear old Dad is trying to get them sacked, but Bagnold and that Bones woman are blocking him."

"I want everyone we can spare out looking for the Dark Lord and for those blood-traitors!" Bella screamed.

**~o~0~o~**

Amelia was at her desk, completely exhausted and worried. It had been three days since she last saw her Aurors Longbottom and Hit Wizard Black. She knew that something happened on Halloween, but knew she couldn't send anyone out on just her gut feeling. Deciding she needed more tea, she just rounded her desk when an owl flew into her office. Taking the parchment from the owl and giving the owl a treat and payment before setting aside the tea for the moment. Amelia broke the familiar seal and relaxed a bit.

_'Amelia, Have a delicate situation needing your expertise. This message will turn into a portkey at 5 p.m. And if you agree tap it twice and say Haven.'_

It was signed Grim. Amelia sat down and sighed in relief. _'They're okay'_ she thought. Putting the message in her pocket she headed out to the cafeteria for that much needed tea.

**~o~0~o~**

Remus and James stepped out of the floo at Longbottom Manor to Frank holding his wand at them. "What was the first prank I helped you with and when?" Frank asked.

"Making the sixth and seventh year Slytherin boys do pirouettes, in tutus, at breakfast," Remus said.

"When they bullied a group of first years two days after school started, in our fourth year," James finished.

Frank lowered his wand, "Sorry guys, I had to be sure. I can't risk anything happening to Neville, Alice or my Mum," he replied.

"We completely understand. We would like you, Alice and Neville to come over to the new place. We need to talk and I think Neville would like some kids to play with," James said. "If you do we'll open the floo up to you. I don't think it's safe for you all to be out in the open just yet."

"Amelia is coming around 5 today and we think you should be there so you know what we think is happening," Remus added.

Alice walked in the room while James was speaking, she listened before speaking up, "I think that would be a good idea. We all need to have a game plan and we really can't trust that Voldemort doesn't have spies in the ministry. We know we can trust Amelia and Moody for absolute sure, but at this point I don't trust anyone else."

"Alright then plan on a family dinner as well," James said. "We'll see you around 5 then."

With that Remus stepped into the floo and just before James stepped in he said, "Just say 'James and Lily' you will have a direct connection to our floo."

**~o~0~o~**

At 5 p.m. Amelia held the parchment, tapped it twice and said quietly 'Haven'. She felt the familiar tug on her navel as the portkey was activated and she was taken to her destination. When she landed she was looking at a beautiful house that she did not recognize, but she could feel the magic of the wards around her. She walked up to the door, but as she raised her hand to knock the door opened suddenly. She was looking into familiar grey eyes.

"What did you tell James and I three days before Halloween?" The owner of those grey eyes asked.

"I felt that something was off, that something was going to happen," Amelia responded.

With that she was quickly ushered in the door. "Sorry about that Boss," Sirius said with a smile but after you hear what we have to tell you, you will understand." He then led her into the living room where to greeted James and Lily. She was introduced to Jackie and Robert Granger. They sat and exchanged the daily pleasantries until the floo sounded in the parlor. Frank and Alice entered to room carrying Neville. The boy looked around the room at all of the faces, only recognizing a few he buried his face into Alice's neck. "Always the shy one aren't you my little love," Alice crooned.

Lily made the introductions just as Hermione bustled into the room followed by Harry.

"Mummy..." Hermione started to say, but stopped upon seeing the new people in the room. She looked to Jackie and ran to stand beside her while Harry headed straight for Neville.

"Around new kids she's not shy, but around new adults it's a different story," Jackie said with a grin. "Look Sweetie, why don't you go see Neville with Harry," she encouraged Hermione. Seeing Harry and Neville together, she made her way across the room.

"Dats Mynie," Harry said to Neville. "Dats Nebille, Mynie"

"Hi Nebille," Hermione said as Neville slid off his mother's lap.

"Hi," Neville said shyly. Lily and Alice took the children to the playroom so the adults could get down to business.

After a lengthy conversation before Amelia's arrival, it was decided that Amelia should have the whole story, from the prophecy all the way to the present. That would help their family safe passage through the system.

So James started the ball rolling, "Shortly after Lily and Alice found out they were both pregnant and that they were due at the same time, Albus claimed to have heard a prophecy that could very well be about one boy or the other..." Five hours later, with a break for Amelia to digest what all she'd heard so far and dinner with the children, the facts laid themselves out for her and all to see.

"So let me get this straight, Albus claims he heard a prophecy that MAY concern both Harry and/or Neville, and maneuvered you into hiding, AND knew that Voldemort was aware of the prophecy, which maneuvered Voldemort into actually attempting to making it real? Add to that a so called best friend betrayed you to Voldemort, by knowingly giving him your location hidden behind a Fidelis Charm." Amelia responded with her anger slowly building towards a foolish old man, one Albus-I-know-everything-Dumbledore. Looking towards her tea she asked, "Do you have anything stronger than tea? I think I need it."

Sirius got the whiskey out of the cabinet and poured some for her. "Anyone else want any, I know I do right now." Sirius offered the room at large.

After taking a deep swallow of the harsh effects of the fire whiskey, Amelia continued zeroing her gaze on the other piece of the puzzle. Looking directly at Lucius and then Severus, "You both carry the Dark Mark, but you state that you have never purposely killed anyone and you did not partake in any of the Death Eater raids or activities? You further state that you were coerced under duress to take the Dark Mark? Am I getting this straight? She asked.

Lucius spoke first, "Yes that is correct. We are willing to give you our memories to look at in a pensieve and will answer any and all questions using veritaserum."

"That is why we asked to meet with you here," Severus began. "As we are being hunted by other Death Eaters, we know there are many still within the ministry, and if we appear there anyone of them will take us out so we can't divulge any information to you. I, as Voldemort's personal potion master, was kept close when I wasn't at Hogwarts, thus I ended up with critical information. Lucius was kept close after Abraxus died since he was the only Malfoy heir, and they needed access to their gold."

Lucius then picked up the thread, "After we were forced to take the Mark, Cissy, Severus and I started looking for any way out that didn't result in death. We learned about his heritage and that he's been lying to his followers about his own blood status. When we heard about the plans for Halloween we took it right to James and Lily. Severus has been friends with all of them, all these years, even under Volemort's nose. We made a plan and stuck to it. Severus found out that Pettigrew was marked, and planned on betraying them at the first chance he got. So we let him, but planned for it with the Marauders and Lily."

"Hey! I'm just as much a marauder as you lot," Lily said jokingly.

Amelia fell back against the chair cushion shaking her head. "Wow, that is a lot to process. If it is okay with you all, I will come back tomorrow evening and bring veritaserum and a pensieve and we can get all this taken care of. I will have to bring someone to back up my investigation," she finally said. "If you don't mind, I would like to bring Senior Auror Moody with me."

"No, that's fine. We all understand that necessity. We also have the Potter Family pensieve, if you would prefer not to bring the Ministry's. If you apparate into the Granger's backyard you will be able to arrive undetected by the neighbors," Lily said.

Well I should take my leave as I now have my niece Susan to look after since those criminals killed the rest of our family. I will return tomorrow evening around 6ish?" Amelia verified. "Yes, I will use the pensieve you have here. Good night all. Robert, Jackie, it was a pleasure to meet you and your beautiful daughter," Amelia left and the entire room seemed to sigh in relief.

**~o~0~o~**

Minerva sat at her desk finishing grading transfiguration essays when her favorite house elf popped into her office.

"Mistress Kitty, headmaster be askin whys yous not in his office yet, and be tellin Mipsy to gets yous there now," Mipsy squeaked with her head bowed.

"Thank you Mipsy, don't worry about the headmaster, I will deal with him myself," Minerva said. As Mipsy popped out, Minerva was grateful that Mipsy had chosen to come with her to Hogwarts, instead of waiting for her brief summer sojourn to her family seat. Albus was going to have to wait until breakfast to chat with her. She had spoken to Filius, and he agreed that meeting him alone in his office was just not going to happen. His actions lately had made several members of the staff not trust him, or his version of _'The Greater Good'_. She was sure that he would try to mess with her mind if they were alone. As it was getting late Minerva decided to have a spot of tea before turning in for the night. As she walked to her private rooms her mind turned to her missing cubs. Her worry for them increased throughout the day. As she sat down for her tea, her eyes set upon a piece of parchment now lying in front of her.

_'To our favorite feline, we are safe, alive and doing fine. Will be in touch soon._

_- P, P, M and L'_

Minerva smiled for the first time since Halloween. They were safe and alive, that meant she was going to have a goodnights sleep. Albus can bloody well wait for her. Thinking about the note she finished her tea and dressed for bed.

**~o~0~o~**

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN2: Hey guys so we're back with another chapter… Finally… Sorry it took so long. Both Scorpiodragonfly and I have had hectic weeks the past few weeks. To the Nitpicky guest reviewer, I realize you want accuracy, but take into consideration that this is for fun. We don't delve deeply into Jackie's age as it is, so please don't… just don't. **_

_**Hope any confusion about the memory charm was cleared up, we don't own the world we are just playing in the sandbox… It may be vague about things, but rest assured you will know when you need to know. **_

_**Not sure when the next chapter will be ready. Currently I have assignments due left, right and center… _**_

_**To any Boston Celtics fans who may read this… Can't wait for the Celtics vs. the Heat game tomorrow night. I got tickets to go so me and my better half are going. So looking forward to this. If you can't make the game don't miss it on TV.**_

_**~Lahote's Girl & Scorpiodragonfly**_


	6. Update

Hello our lovely readers…. No I'm sorry this isn't the new chapter….

Sorry that the next chapter hasn't been posted yet guys unfortunately we have had a few deaths in the family in the last almost 3 weeks. The next chapter is in the work, but Scorpiodragonfly and I have just been going through a hell of a time right now. Scorpio has been trying to help fellow ff writer Catalinalunamoon, who is her daughter and my sister through this tough time. Please understand that we have not stopped this piece, but have had our hands full with so much more going on in everyday life.

The next chapter will be up as soon as possible, but for now please bear with us.

Always

Lahote's Girl & Scorpiodragonfly


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